knight



@uitrit tntrs. germi @mug AB'IJAH L. KNIGHT, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. Letters Patent No. 70,863, dated ovembcr 12, 1867',-

IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING PAPER-STOCK.

TO ALL WIIOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, ABIJAH L. KNIGHT, of the city and county of Baltimore, and State of Maryland, have invented a new and improved Machine for Cutting Paper-Stock and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactv description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and. in whichi Figure l is a side elevation of my machine.

Figure 2 is a front end elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a section of a detachedv portion of the frame, showing the knife t', block H. guide-frame I, and knives c c". i

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

In this invention the rags are fcd to a vertically cutting knife, by means of a combination of smooth and tinted rollers to which an intermittent motion is imparted.-

In the course of many years in which I have been engaged in the manufacture of paper, I have-never' observed a machine in operation which would out the stock satisfactorily. The machines in useinl this country and in Europe, all have knives attached to a revolving cylinder, and are obliged to be fed -by han'd. Their construction is such that the knives -revolving' with great velocity, 'and working upon the hard material, require an immense power to drive them, and run with so .much clatter and noise as to become almost a nuisance ina paper-making establishment, besides very frequently getting out of gear and breaking everythingl around them.

Where one of the knives works on a cylinder, its edge must strike with great force close to the edge of the 4stationary bed-knife, and if either gets in thc slightest degree awry, everything is smashed in an instant. Where the revolving knives'strikc with such force as it is indispensably necessary to give them in such machines, it is' quite impossible to preserve the gear from wearing and becoming disarranged, and such accidents as are abov'e referred to are of very frequent occurrence in every paper-mill now inv operation. Besides this, the revolving knives cannot be kept sharp by grinding them. Every little lwhile they have to be taken out of the machine and upset by a smith, another set meanwhile taking their place or the machine standing idle. The dust raised by the violent operation of these machines, teo, is so great that the common practice is for the workmen to have Sponges bound over their faces to protect their respiratory organs while at work with the rag-cutters. Another and serious defect of the machine in'prescnt use is that it doesnot cutv the stock clean, but through the slightest and almost constant derangcment of' the knives the material is pounded rather thancut in pieces, hence shreds and lint are produced, which in the subsequent process of forming pulp are boiled, washed, and wasted away, while in my machine the cut is direct,'certain,'and clean, thereby saving considerably. Paper-makers have long desired a machine inwhich these defects would be obviated, but none has hitherto been invented and brought into use. 'lhhe machine which I haveinvented for that parpose has now been on trial at a paper-mill near Baltimore for several months, and is found to work perfectly, cutting the rags with less than half the power required tcopcrate the old one, working silently, and raising so little dust as not at all to incommode the employs. It runs evenly and regularly, never getting out of gear, and its knives, when dull, can be put in perfect working operation in a few minutes by grinding them.

In order that others skilled in the art to whichmy invention appcrtains may be enabledto make and use the same, I will proceed to `describe it in detail. i

In the drawings, A A represent the two stout forward posts of my macl1ine,-connected together by crossbeams B B, and with the rear posts A A by the side beams Bl B. B2 B are crossbeams connecting together the two rear posts. The whole frame thus constructed supports a horizontal feed-table, T, the forward end of thc Hoor of which comes'out Hush with the front side of the posts A A, and is fitted with the sharp, stout bed knife C. The latters may be constructed in two pieces, one, c, vertical, and attached to the front edge of the feed-table, and the other, c, if used, horizontal, lying fiat on the floor of the feed-table to which it is attached by set-screws, and having its edge extending along close to the edge of the vertical knife c, so as to support and strengthen it. Perhaps in such a construction it might be more proper to call the vertical knife c the knife,- and the horizontal knife simply a supporting plate to steady the edge of the knife.

D is the main working shaft of the machine, by which the power is applied at D', and communicated to the secondary working shaft Gr through gearwheels d cl. From the shaft G the power is directly applied to thc movable knife and the feeding apparatus, as hereafter described. The shaft D bears in` boxes fixed to the upper side of the'beams BI B1, and the shaft G in boxes fixed to the front side of the posts A A, a little above thc point where the side beams arc attached to them. The pinion d may be small compared with the pinion d', since it is not necessary to gain velocity, but, on the other hand, the power can be economized.

The shaft Gr is provided with a crank, E, at each extremity, which work s pitmen F F, connected with the ends of the knife-block Htand vibrating it vertically as the shaft Gr revolves. The knife-block runs `in astout guiding-frame, I, and is itself provided with shoulders or vertical guide-cleats'h L, to steady and direct it in the frame. The knife Yis a sharp blade attached to the inner side ofthc block I-I, so as to come out iiush lwith it, and bevelled from the front to an edge. It may be attached to the block by set-screws by which its cut can be regulated, or by which, when its edge is ground away, it can bc set down a little so as to keep the properposition. The bed-knife C may also be attached to the feed-table floor in the same manner, for the same purpose.

The edge of the knife t' cuts close against the edgel of the bed-knife, both operating together to sever the rags. The edge of the vibrating knife is slightly inclined from one end to the other, to make it cut more easily.

Y Its ends may extend beyond the inner edges of the posts A A if thought desirable, in order to steady the blade.

A chute or apron' may be provided under the knife-block and over the pinion d', into which thc rags will `fall` when cut, and which willdelivcr them at the side or in front of the machine.

The feeding attachmentconsists of four rollers, two luted ones, M M', working across the top of the feedtable, and two smooth ones, N N', working across thc fecdftablc under it, but so that their upper sides project slightly above its floor in transverse apertures made through the floor for the purpose. Motion Vis communicated to them all from the shaft G and pitman F, by means of a long lever, L, pivoted on a short arm, K, projecting laterally from the rear post A. The forward end of this lever is'struck and lifted after every stroke of the knife c' by a pin, c, fixed to the pitman, and when the pitman descends the lever L falls back by itsown weight. 'lhe pin e may be made adjustable on thc pitman, if necessary, in order to regulate tho length of stroke of thc lever, and by consequence the feed of the machine.v

The lever thus operated is provided with a pawl or dog,p, working in a ratchet, r, on the sidenof the machine, and moving the ratchet-wheel round more oriless at every stroke of the piston, according as the pin c is in position to give the full stroke or only a part of the stroke to the lever L. 'lho ratchet has a pinion-wheel, n', fixed to its innorside, revolving on the same shaft with it, namely, the'shaft of the forward smooth roller N', which works an idle-wheel, O, which in its turn works the rear smooth roller by means of a pinion, n, and works both of the iluted rollers by means of a second idle-wheel, O', gearing with the respective pinions m and m of the two upper rollers. In this way the proper direction is given tothe motion of each of the feed-rollers, and all the rollers are made to move together and carry the rags forward at the moment when the knife has finished its stroke and has ascended to prepare for another.

The machine would frequently become choked if the upper rollers worked in fixed bearings like the lower rollers, and accordingly I have provided movable bearings for them. I make them cach vbear inra frame, P,

liingcdat one side to the top of theside walls of the feed-table, as shown at q, by which arrangement the luted rollers will ride over any temporary jam of material that may happen `toaccumulate or become knotted and;

twisted together at any particular point, and when the obstacle is past the rollers will by their own weight resume their place. The rollers are all of wood. The rest ofY the machine is preferably constructed of iron.

In thc machine which is now Vworking admirably ina manufactory, I use a knife twelve inches in length, with a seven-inch stroke. Running at the rate of forty strokes a minute, the average speed which I give it, will cut seven hundred pounds of rags per hour, creating butlittle dust or noise, and working perfectly in every particular. No one isrequired to feed-the rags to thc machine, it performing that work itself, with the utmost regularity. i

Such a machine as I have described 4is made at comparatively small expense, and by its superior economy in the matters of running without repairs, and in'rcquiring a less number ofworkmen to wol-kit, will pay for itself in a short time. It can be run withless than one-half the power required to run the old machines.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

, 1. The combination of the erank-shaft Gwpitmen F F, knife-block H, guide-frame I, and knives z' and C, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the crank-shaft G, pitman F, having the pin e,levcr L, pawl p, ratchet r, idle-wheels O and P, feed-rollers M M', N 1N', and feed-table T, all constructed and arranged substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

' 3. The paper-stock-cutting machine above described, consisting of the parts specified in clauses one and two of this claim, combined and arrangedtogether substantially as described, for the purpose of cutting and preparing paper-stock.

To the above specification of my improvement I have signed my hand this sixteenth day of July, 1867.

A. L. KNIGHT.

Witnesses:

JAMES II. GnIDLEr, CHARLES A. Pn'lrrr. 

